Behind The Laughs, Persistent Demons

August 21, 2005|By PHIL HALL; Special to The Courant Phil Hall, a writer in Fairfield, is author of ``The Encyclopedia of Underground Movies.''

CENTER SQUARE:

THE PAUL LYNDE STORY

by Steve Wilson and Joe Florenski (Advocate Books, 256 pp., $16.95)

Paul Lynde was openly gay at a time when the slightest hint of homosexuality could kill any performer's career. He was a fixture in theater and film for more than a decade before his star breakthrough came from the low-rent world of TV game shows. But while he engulfed a nation with laughter, his private life was a brutal mess of paralyzing insecurities and rampant alcoholism.

Lynde's first major notice came in the 1952 Broadway revue ``New Faces'' and the 1954 film version of it, but, to his despair, he could not build stardom from that vehicle. He gained more attention as the harried father in the 1960 Broadway musical ``Bye Bye Birdie.'' But while he repeated the role in the 1963 film, his part was severely abbreviated, and he always hated the movie.

Failed sitcom pilots and small roles in forgettable movies dominated his career for most of the 1960s, but salvation came in 1968, when he was the last-minute replacement in the center square slot on the game show ``Hollywood Squares'' after Jackie Mason abruptly walked out of a taping. Although ``Hollywood Squares'' had been on the air for two years before his joining the cast, Lynde's arrival helped drive the show from a daytime filler into a cultural phenomenon.

Lynde's comic answers to the game show's questions were scripted in advance, yet his toxic mix of risque camp and world-weary exasperation made his answers priceless. Lynde's writers also infused an extraordinary (for its era) amount of gay humor into his jokes. Many gay-rights activists look back on Lynde's ``Hollywood Squares'' as an iconic moment in show business.

As Wilson and Florenski observe, Lynde had viewers ``laughing with a homosexual instead of at one -- a small step toward greater acceptance, but a step nonetheless.''

Lynde's ``Hollywood Squares'' work gave him unprecedented recognition; even Greta Garbo sent him a fan letter. He used his game-show stardom to leverage numerous TV guest appearances and a record-setting salary in regional theater. For example, he sold out a 2,500-seat theater in Warren, Ohio, with a production of the comedy ``The Impossible Years'' on the night Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.

Yet Lynde's private demons constantly haunted him. Lifelong insecurities tied to his appearance (he once ballooned to 260 pounds) and his fear of failing created endless stress and anxiety. His inability to secure movie stardom, and a pair of disastrous early 1970s sitcoms, embittered him, and he grew envious when his close friends Maggie Smith and Cloris Leachman won Academy Awards.

While Lynde never made his sexuality a secret, his inability to enjoy a loving relationship left him emotionally isolated and opened him to predatory hustlers. But even more debilitating was his alcohol abuse.

``Center Square'' details in great depth Lynde's self-destructive drinking, which led to his arrests for public intoxication and drunken driving. Even worse, the excessive consumption of liquor unleashed a vituperative temper that alienated friends and potential employers. By the time he finally went on the wagon, it was too late. His career had become stagnant because of his poor reputation while his health was lethally damaged.

He died of a heart attack in 1982 at the age of 55.

``Center Square'' is a fascinating tribute to the complex funnyman. The laughs the book recalls are rich, but learning the pain of Paul Lynde's sad private life is truly heart-rending.